


List The Reasons

by RobinPlaysTrumpet15



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Best Friends, Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Suicidal Thoughts, Late Night Conversations, Light Angst, Mental Health Issues, Sad with a Happy Ending, only kinda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-10-31 07:27:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17845022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobinPlaysTrumpet15/pseuds/RobinPlaysTrumpet15
Summary: The cleric calls the paladin to channel six. Mike lists the reasons why to stay for him.





	List The Reasons

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea when i started writing this, but with zero interest in anything today, I found this in my Stranger Things folder and thought "I can finish that" and here we are. I hope you like this.

Mike had just started to drift off when the radio crackled to life on his desk. His eyes fluttered a little but didn’t open as he waited for a voice to accompany the brief static.

Then Will’s radio distorted voice broke through the recent peace of Mike’s bedroom with an oddly flat tone.

_“Paladin. Channel six.”_

Mike’s brain was so far gone he almost unconsciously decided not to respond. Until reason and habit broke through the fog of homework induced exhaustion.

He pulled himself up out of bed, throwing off his comforter in favor of near stumbling over the carpet. His hand closed around the hard plastic of his radio without even opening his eyes.

“Going to six.”

Dial turn.

“Paladin on six.”

_“Cleric on six.”_

Mike yawned, rubbing at his hair as he padded his way back over to his bed, dropping down hard onto the mattress again.

“What’s up, Will?”

It was two in the morning. Screw radio etiquette.

_“No questions.”_

“Copy.”

_“I need you to help me make a list of reasons to live.”_

What.

Mike sighed as he let himself fall onto his back.

“The last time we thought you were dead, I shut down for like four hours. And that tells us exactly what it would be like if you actually died.”

Will chuckled humorlessly.

_“Yeah, that’s true.”_

“Jonathan’s at college, so who would help your mom find her keys in the morning if you aren’t there?”

Mike didn’t get a response to that.

“You have those little flowers on your windowsill that need watered.”

_“They’re violets and you know it.”_

“I’m almost done planning the next d and d campaign for two weeks from now.

“We already know you might be getting another dog here soon since Chester died, so someone will have to be home with the new puppy after school.”

_“It probably won’t be a puppy.”_

“Okay, well, dogs still love affection, and you’ll be the one to give it.

“You told me last month that you were actually looking forward to the next book on our reading list for English.

“El would drag you back to kill you herself and then bring you back again.”

That got him a real, honest to god snort and an actual laugh. Mike smiled against the sleep pulling at his mind. Good. He might be getting somewhere.

_“I think you’re right,”_ Will chuckled into his radio.

“I know I’m right.”

Silence dragged on for a few seconds too long. Will was waiting for Mike to say something else. And Mike wanted to ask questions.

No questions. Maybe-

“One question?” Mike asked after a resigned sigh. Will could deny. That was the rule. Mike had agreed to no questions, so Will was not required to answer any that he might come up with. But Mike was hopeful that he could get just one. Will could be a little soft when it came to Mike.

But then the silence stretched on too long, and Mike was starting to suspect that Will wasn’t going to agree. He would deny and Mike would just have wonder.

_“Fine…”_ Will’s voice cut through the near silent white noise of the room. _“Just one.”_

Yes! Alright… Mike would have to think this through. He had one question, one shot. If he asked the wrong one, Will could still decide not to answer it. And then he would have wasted his chance. Think think think…

Will had done this only a couple of times in the past. He would radio late in the evening or early morning and send them to their private channel. Technically, the others could tune in and listen, but the rule was that if you weren’t called to that channel, you stayed off it. Common courtesy and all that. So Mike should be the only one who knows about Reasons To Live lists. But they usually came after a stressful day filled with Troy and his bullshit or a hard day at school or some supernatural shit.

They made sense, and Mike usually assumed that they helped Will ground himself. They were small and easy to focus on so they helped distract from the b.s. that might have bothered him in the first place.

But today… nothing that he could think of had been out of the ordinary. El was as calm as ever, meaning that nothing supernatural was creeping around. Mike would have noticed Troy saying anything to Will since he loved to do it publicly to humiliate him as much as possible. And school was easy. Will’s grades were up, he’d say he was even enjoying this chapter of of their math class. So… why the list?

_“Mike? You still have one question…”_ Will trailed off, the sudden voice startling Mike out of his thoughts.

“Oh right…” he mumbled to himself.

No questions…

“Could you tell me…” Mike said slowly into the radio, choosing his words carefully. “Could you tell me why you needed a list tonight?”

Will response came hesitantly. _“I…_ could _…”_

And… Mike couldn’t honestly say he was surprised by Will’s answer. Even if he really would like a legitimate one.

“Will you?”

He hears an aborted sigh, likely from where Will had accidentally held down the button on his radio. But he didn’t wait long for his friend’s voice to return, crackling only slightly through the static.

_“It was just… a dream. And sometimes… have you ever just- have you thought about- had thoughts that-”_

“Will,” Mike cut in patiently, “breathe. Take a breath. Start over. It’s alright.”

And he assumed the silence following was Will doing exactly that.

The radio crackled. _“It’s just… one of those nights, Mike…”_

One of those night. No questions.

Alright.

“Okay,” he whispers, reiterating into the radio after a second. “Do you want me to keep listing reasons?”

_“It’s late.”_ It’s not an answer.

“That’s not what I asked.”

_“We have school tomorrow.”_ It’s still not an answer.

“That’s fine. Still not what I asked.”

Silence.

Then-

_“Do you mind?”_

Mike doesn’t answer. He just tucks himself under his blanket, stretching out on his side.

“Any good party needs a cleric. Dunno what we’d do without you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. I hope you liked this. Let me know what you thought, and if you found any typos, feel free to let me know so I can fix them. Thanks!


End file.
